seed

plural seeds · alternative obsolete sede

1. countableagricultureAny propagative portion of a plant which may be sown, such as true seeds, seed-like fruits, tubers, or bulbs.

   […] for hungry birds have devoured ſeeds, and having moiſtened and warmed them in their bellies, a little after have dunged in the forky twiſtes of Trees, and together with their dung excluded the ſeed whole which erſt they had ſwallowed: and ſometimes it brings forth there where they dung it, […]

   1669, John Baptiſta Porta, chapter V, in Natural Magick, The Third Book Of Natural Magick: […] , page 68

   Synonyms: spawn

   1. countableagricultureA fertilized and ripened ovule, containing an embryonic plant.

      Synonyms: spawn

   2. countableagricultureAny small seed-like fruit.

      If you plant a seed in the spring, you may have a pleasant surprise in the autumn.

      2 more examples

      The exiguity and ſmallneſſe of ſome ſeeds extending to large productions is one of the magnalities of nature, ſomewhat illuſtrating the work of the Creation, and vaſt production from nothing.

      1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. […]. Chapter III.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, […] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, […], London: […] Hen[ry] Brome […], →OCLC, page 136

      Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […]. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.

      2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3

      Synonyms: spawn

2. collectiveuncountableAn amount of seeds that cannot be readily counted.

   The entire field was covered with geese eating the freshly sown seed.

3. countableA fragment of coral.
4. uncountableSemen.

   A man must use his seed to start and raise a family.

   1 more example

   And if any mans seede of copulation goe out from him, then hee shall wash all his flesh in water, and bee vncleane vntill the Euen.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 15:16

5. countablefigurativelyA precursor.

   the seed of an idea

   2 more examples

   Which idea was the seed (idea)?

   Sometimes it takes more than you have / To benefit from what you know / Sometimes you keep pouring water / But the seeds don't grow, woah

   1977, Ashford & Simpson, “Too Bad”, in Send It

   Synonyms: germ

6. The initial state, condition or position of a changing, growing or developing process; the ultimate precursor in a defined chain of precursors.
   1. countableuncountablehobbiesThe initial position of a competitor or team in a tournament. (seed position)

      The team with the best regular season record receives the top seed in the conference tournament.

   2. countableuncountableThe competitor or team occupying a given seed (position).

      The rookie was a surprising top seed.

      1 more example

      Serving at deuce and trailing to Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch 5-2 in the first set of their second-round match at the French Open, the Chinese No. 32 seed saw a forehand called out by a line judge.

      2026 May 28, Charlotte Harpur, “Tamara Korpatsch, Wang Xinyu and the story of the strangest French Open match so far”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   3. countableuncountablecomputingThe initialization state of a pseudorandom number generator or similar system.

      If you use the same seed you will get exactly the same pattern of numbers.

      1 more example

      As suggested in [3], space can be saved by using a deterministic pseudo random number generator (PRNG) and storing only the seed of that PRNG.

      2009, Daniel J. Bernstein, Johannes Buchmann, Erik Dahmen, editors, Post-Quantum Cryptography, Springer, →ISBN, page 44

      Synonyms: seed number

   4. countableuncountablevideo games(by extension) A unique code that acts as a blueprint for generating a specific game world, determining terrain, structures, and resource placement.

      Seeds are Minecraft's way of generating terrain. Each biome you spawn in is determined by the seed. With a custom seed, you can have a desert biome right next to a mesa biome.

      2015, Jesse Stay, Thomas Stay, Jacob Cordeiro, Minecraft For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 242

      Synonyms: seed number

   5. InternetcountableuncountablebusinessA commercial message in a creative format placed on relevant sites on the Internet. (seed idea or seed message)

      The latest seed has attracted a lot of users in our online community.

7. archaiccountableuncountableOffspring, descendants, progeny.

   the seed of Abraham

   1 more example

   Next him king Leyr in happie peace long raind, / But had no issue male him to succeed, / But three faire daughters, which were well vptraind, / In all that seemed fit for kingly seed […]

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

8. countableuncountableRace; generation; birth.

   Of mortal seed they were not held.

   a. 1687, Edmund Waller, To Zelinda

9. countableuncountablenatural sciencesA small particle, bubble, or imperfection that serves as a nucleation point for some process.
10. countableuncountableA small bubble formed in imperfectly fused glass.
11. UScountableslanguncountableA child.

    Seeds know what time it is, like it's time for Teletubbies

    2004, MF DOOM, “One Beer”, in MM..FOOD

present singular third person seeds · participle present seeding · participle past seeded · past seeded · alternative obsolete sede

1. transitiveTo plant or sow an area with seeds.

   I seeded my lawn with bluegrass.

2. reflexiveTo shed seeds (refers to plants)

   These poppies have not seeded themselves yet.

3. transitiveTo cover thinly with something scattered; to ornament with seedlike decorations.

   […] AGRYPNIA, or Vigilance, in yellovv, a ſable mantle, ſeeded vvith vvaking eies, and ſiluer fringe: […]

   1604 March 25 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), B[en] Jon[son], “The Pegme at Fen-church”, in B. Jon: His Part of King James His Royall and Magnificent Entertainement through His Honorable Cittie of London, Thurseday the 15. of March. 1603. […], London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] [and George Eld] for Edward Blount, published 1604, →OCLC, signature B, recto

4. transitiveTo start; to provide, assign or determine the initial resources for, position of, state of.

   A venture capitalist seeds young companies.

   2 more examples

   The tournament coordinator will seed the starting lineup with the best competitors from the qualifying round.

   The programmer seeded fresh, uncorrupted data into the database before running unit tests.

5. gamesTo allocate a seeding to a competitor.

   Everybody likes to second‐guess computers, including who seed the pros. Nothing could have better exposed the vulnerability of the computer seeding than the spectacle of clay‐court experts looking like weekend hackers on grass.

   1979 July 2, “Reflection on the Seedings Fills Pause at Wimbledon”, in The New York Times

6. InternettransitiveTo leave (files) available for others to download through peer-to-peer file sharing protocols (e.g. BitTorrent).
7. intransitiveTo be qualified to compete, especially in a quarter-final, semi-final, or final.

   The tennis player seeded into the quarters.

8. climatologyTo scatter small particles within (a cloud or airmass) in order to trigger the formation of rain.

   A number of clouds were seeded to help provide rain to a drought-stricken area.

9. intransitiveTo produce seed.
10. intransitiveTo grow to maturity.
11. slangvulgarTo ejaculate inside the penetratee during intercourse, especially in the rectum.

1. dialectalparticiplepastsimple past and past participle of see

   Presently a rioting noise was heard without. Starting up, the landlord cried, "That's the Grampus's crew. I seed her reported in the offing this morning; a three years' voyage, and a full ship. Hurrah, boys; now we'll have the latest news from the Feegees."

   1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 3, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 15

plural Seeds

1. A surname.